Elsewhere
by Just Scott
Summary: Follows the events of a small town in New Mexico during the events of SM Stirling's Dies The Fires. Features OC. Rating for violence and possible language in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Tuesday, March 17th 1998 6:15pm

Change minus One Hour

Aztec, New Mexico

Eric went through the supplies again just to make sure he had everything. He had the nails and the hammer, the wood was waiting on the porch with the cooler, and some blankets. The previous summer he had found a nice little cave in the hills behind his parent's house and had been developing it into a secret spot for a while. The first time he had seen it was completely by accident. He was exploring the area the night after a storm like he always did and found that a tree had been split by the lightning. He had heard this last night and thought for a moment it was a gunshot. As he came closer to examine the split tree he thought it had burnt the ground as well, it had turned out to be an opening in the rock below. After a slight descent he dropped for about seven feet to the ground below and found himself in a cave which was the space between two large rocks. From what he could see it had all started from the water the dripped down one side of the cave.

In the weeks that followed the discovery he made an exit tunnel big enough for him to crawl through with wooden supports, he had rigged a tarp to keep out most of the rain and weather, he took apart a bookcase and carried it in pieces to the cave to reassemble it and fill it with his books, and managed to spend most of the time he had out of the house. It wasn't that he hated the house, it was just that he hated being alone in the house, which was always the case.

His efforts would not have been so successful if his parents would have been home or the fact that they like their neighbors used an empty and condemned lot to dump unwanted items like refrigerators and furniture. This year he had successfully setup chairs and a table, today he was going to setup a place for a cooler and he was going to go construct a bed.

He took the long path to his cave, not wanting to leave a trail. He knew he was being paranoid but he did not want his brother to follow him or find his cave. His older brother was easier to put up with now that he had sports to distract him. This was his brother's senior year in high school, next year he was going to start high school as a freshman and shortly after he would turn fifteen. Part of him hoped that like his brother he would find something to distract him once he moved on, but now he was dedicated to his cave.

The opening he had made was big enough for him to crawl through and drag something behind, he had tried to make it bigger but had almost sealed the entrance. That was when he decided not to push it and when he started using wooden supports. He setup everything in a pile, keeping the blankets off the ground as much as possible. As he crawled out he decided that he should probably think about blocking off the entrance in case he did leave a trail. He emerged from the hole carefully, making sure not to hit the wooden support just beyond the entrance. After dusting himself off he began to look around for a suitable rock or something that would work to cover the entrance. It was partially hidden by a shrub, but Eric had accidentally worn it down through his various entrances and exits. He kept an eye out for anything that would do as he walked back to his house. There did not appear to be anything that would work, he guess he would try to cover it with a tarp and dirt to make it fit in. He was so lost in thought that he did not see the person standing on his porch.

"Hello," a voice said.

Eric jumped and looked at the person wide-eyed. As his heart thudded wildly in his chest his brain connected the person to a memory, she was a girl he went to school with. In fact she was in his English class.

"You scared me, Danielle." He said blushing.

"Sorry," she said with a shy smile.

"What are you doing here?" He looked over her shoulder to his driveway but did not see a car or a bicycle that she could have arrived in. He was pretty good at hearing cars.

"I'm at Stacy's tonight," she motioned over her shoulder, flipping her ponytail as she turned. "She mentioned that you lived around here and I was wondering if you wanted to join us for a movie?"

Now it was Eric's turn to blush. "Yeah, I would like that."

Her smile broadened and she began to walk towards her friend's house. Eric walked beside her in a nervous silence. He did not have much experience with girls, which did not really need to be said considering he spent a lot of his free time making a cave livable.

"So," he searched for something to say. "Stacy doesn't mind that you invited me?"

"No, not really," Danielle's smile shifted just slightly. "She is the only person your age in a three mile radius and neither of you have cars, but you aren't friends. That is weird."

"We kind of were friends when we were younger but we just aren't now." He shook his head not really wanting to think about it. "Her parents don't mind you inviting me over?"

"They are in Montana for the weekend with her little brother." She flushed slightly.

"Oh," Eric smiled as well.

Danielle opened the door and allowed him to enter first. He looked around at the living room, noticing things really had not changed in the years since he had been in the house. Stacy sat on the couch with a bag of popcorn in her lap, she did not look to excited to see him.

"Hi," Eric did not exactly feel overjoyed to be with Stacy either. "Thanks for inviting me over."

"Danielle invited you," she turned on the TV and let the movie play.


	2. Chapter 2

Tuesday, March 17th 1998 7:10pm  
Change minus Five Minutes

The living room was quiet as the tape started to play. Eric and Stacey sat on opposite ends of the couch with Danielle in the middle trying to ignore the fact. The previews started and the tension eased just a little. Halfway through the third preview the power flickered and then died.

"What happened?" Danielle asked sitting up.

"It must have blown a fuse." Stacey walked to the kitchen and pulled a flashlight out of the kitchen drawer. "This'll just take a moment."

She pushed the button on the flashlight and nothing happened. She tried again shaking a little after nothing happened.

"That's weird."

"What is it?" Danielle walked into the kitchen followed by Eric.

"The batteries are dead, but they are fresh. We just bought them before my parents left." She unscrewed the top of the flashlight and popped out the three batteries.

After a moment she touched her tongue to the tip of each one.

"Do you hear that?" Eric turned toward the door.

They walked cautiously to the front door and opened it. On the highway below there was a scene that belonged in a bad action movie. An eighteen-wheeler was barreling down the highway, from the look on the drivers face he did not have any control over the vehicle. From their vantage point they could see similar looks on the other drivers along the stretch of road.

"I think it's more than a blown fuse." Eric pointed to row of house on the other side of the highway.

It was getting to be dusk and no lights were on in any of the houses.

"Do you have camping gear?" he walked back through the living room and into the kitchen.

"What?" Stacey followed him in a bit of a daze.

"We need to help them." Danielle was still standing at the door.

"This isn't a blown fuse, this is something bigger. Those cars aren't working, these batteries aren't working, and from the looks of it this isn't something that just happened at your house." He began putting items on the counter. "We need to pack the useful stuff up, I have somewhere we can go."

"What?"

"Listen, if this is just some stupid thing that will end in a couple of hours then we can all laugh at me later, but if it isn't…" he let the words hang in the air. "We need to get going, once things get bad these houses will be ransacked."

"You are crazy, put that stuff back!" Stacey walked back to Danielle. "See, I told you!"

"We have to help them!" Danielle turned Stacey to see the scene below.

What had started out as cars trying desperately to stop had become a thirteen car pile-up. Eric appeared at her shoulder.

"Danielle, do you know CPR?" he looked into her eyes.

"No."

"Do you know how to set a broken bone?"

She shook her head.

"You want to help, I understand, but if you don't know how you will just get hurt yourself." He spoke softly, trying to take the sting from his words.

She slowly nodded her head and looked away. "What do we do?"

"We get as much supplies as we can carry and get somewhere safe."

She nodded again and followed him back to the kitchen. They began to fill plastic bags with food and supplies. Stacey stood at the door, squinting into the distance, trying to find something that would prove him wrong. After a while she joined them packing the bags.

"Take everything that we can use, food, medicine, blankets, and clothes." Eric finished loading a bag with canned foods. "Don't forget the can opener. Clothes! The clothes shouldn't be too bright or something that will stand out against the ground and trees. Get dark greens, tans, khaki, black, and gray mainly. Once we are done here we'll stop by my house and do the same thing."

Stacey nodded and went back to her room.

"What about my parents?" Danielle stopped and looked at him.

"We'll find them, but first we have to stay safe." He smiled at her trying to reassure her.

In his mind he was going out of control, trying to figure things out. Someone had flicked a switch and nothing worked anymore at least that was what it seemed. They would clear anything out of the house they could use for supplies and then do the same to his house, after that he was going to take them to the cave. It would have enough room for the three of them, he was have to redesign the bed to fit the two of them. With enough food and supplies they should be able to last at least until things calmed down. He didn't think about his family, they were elsewhere right now and he had to take care of himself and those with him. His father was in Farmington, his mother was in Durango, and his brother was in town a few miles away. He stopped packing for a moment.

Danielle was right, what about her parents? If they came to check on her and they were in the cave they would miss them, however if they left a note describing where they were anyone who came along would see it. He had options, he knew he did, he just didn't necessarily like them. Leave a detailed note for anyone or chance missing them for good. They could check back each day to see if there was any change in things or if anyone had shown up.

Part of him wanted the lights to flicker back to life and have this all be some weird solar flare incident but he knew deep down that the lights weren't coming on again and if they did it wasn't going to be any time soon. He knew it was better to act like they would never come back on rather than sitting around and waiting.

"We're finished." Danielle looked around the kitchen. "Now what?"

"We'll help Stacey." Eric turned to see Stacey standing in the doorway holding her fathers pistol.

"Get out of my house." She held the gun up, shaking a bit. "Both of you get out now."

"Stacey, if I'm right then the three of us should stick to stick together." He took a slow step forward. "I know you don't like me, but you have to trust me."

"Right about what?" She yelled. "The cars are working and electricity isn't working? It will come back!"

"I hope so," he took another step. "I want it to but what if it doesn't? What happens if you just stay here and nothing comes back on? People are going to come eventually, maybe not today or tomorrow but someone will come and there is stuff in this house that will help them live just a bit longer and they will take it if we don't."

"My dad has two shotguns and a pistol, I know how to use them." Her arm straightened.

"Think about it, Stacey, if the cars aren't working and the electricity isn't working, a gun won't work either." He was now standing just in front of the barrel of the gun.

"It will work." She held the gun above her head and pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened.

She pulled the trigger again.

Nothing happened.

She looked at Eric and fainted.


	3. Chapter 3

Tuesday, March 17th 1998 7:35 pm

Change plus Twenty Minutes

Eric held six full plastic bags in each hand and a hiking pack with sleeping bags and various camping items on his back, the others were doing the same. Since Stacey had woken up she had not said anything, but she was still helpful. Danielle seemed to be doing alright so far but he was sure that he was heading to a breakdown as well. He didn't blame Stacey, she freaked out and in doing so had proven his suspicions. Cars breaking down and stuff shutting off could be explained by an EMP or some sort of attack or mishap, but even the gun not working proved this wasn't something that could just be ignored.

They had successfully raided his house as well, now having a good system of ransacking. He led them to cave sticking to the rocky path to keep the trail down. When they reached the entrance he began to put his pack on the ground.

"The opening isn't big enough to crawl through with our packs on." He began to set the bags on top of the pack. "Setup your packs and bags like this and drag them behind you, I'll go first and light some candles. The crawl is about ten feet and I have to clear some stuff out of the way."

"Where are you going?" Danielle set her pack down and followed his lead.

"I found this cave last year, I've been making into a kind of hideout." He looked away as he spoke, knowing how it sounded.

"Is that why they call you Caveman?" She stopped and turned to him.

"No," he blushed. "They call me caveman because I run in gym barefoot. No one knows about my cave."

He checked to see that Stacey was still being cooperative, which she was.

"Listen, this is just temporary, us in the cave, that is." He looked at Stacey, she was keeping eye contact now. "I was going to build a bed today, but it was just for one person, I can modify to fit all of us if I have enough wood."

"What?" Danielle blushed crimson.

"We have three single sleeping bags and plenty of blankets to keep us separated. If it makes you feel better I promise I'm not going to try anything."

"He won't try anything." Stacey laughed.

Danielle looked from her to Eric. "If we are going to be staying like this for a while I have to know what this is all about. What happened between you two?"

"A long time ago, we used to be friends." Eric looked at Stacey. "We were closer than friends, really close but no one knew about it."

"We don't have time for this," Stacey growled. "We kind of were together behind the scenes and I wanted to go farther than he did and that ended it."

"So, you," Danielle pointed to Stacey. "Wanted to go farther then he did?"

"Yes," The two said in unison.

"Why?"

"It's complicated." They again said in unison.

"Are you two going to be alright to stay together?"

"I'm okay." Eric looked at Stacey.

"I can do it."

"Alright, let's get in here and get setup." He turned and began to crawl through the entrance, dragging his supplies behind.

When he reached the cave he pulled the rest of the supplies through and placed them on the table, it was almost too dark to see. He pulled out a pack of matches from his pocket when Danielle came through.

"It's dark in here." She moved slowly trying to find her way around.

"Get out a candle, we'll try to keep it lit but not attract too much attention." He lit the match and lit the candle that she was holding. "Stacey, are you coming?"

"I'm almost there." Her head emerged from the opening and she looked around. "Did you do all this?"

"Yeah," he motioned to the table. "I've built most of it or rebuilt it. It isn't the best looking but it does the trick. When the sun rises we'll get enough natural light through the opening at the top to see and the tarp I have up there keeps most of the dirt and stuff out. I could dig a fire pit toward the middle if it gets too cold, but for now we should be fine with the blankets and sleeping bags."

"What are we supposed to do now?" Danielle sat down in one of the chairs.

"We should probably get all the supplies organized." Stacey walked over to the table and added her load to the pile. "This is sandstone so we can carve into it if we are careful." She paused. "Do you have a toilet setup?"

Eric shook his head, "I wasn't planning on living here. I just wanted a place for hanging out when I needed somewhere to think. We could make one, there is a bit of a fissure over in the wall over here that you can shimmy through to another opening. I haven't used it because it was too small for anything really."

"This is a pretty good setup." Danielle looked around. "With a bit more work we could be pretty comfortable here."

Stacey nodded and looked at Eric. "For once it's a good thing you are so weird."

"Thanks," he smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

Thursday, March 19th 1998 Sunset

2 days after Change

They had completed the bed, started carving shelves into the sandstone, and made a decently working latrine out of the smaller connecting chamber. With their help Eric was finally able to setup a sufficient outside barrier for the tunnel with and a door from the inside. After a very long discussion they decided to wait a day before raiding the other two houses in the area just in case the owners decided to show up. Earlier that morning they had raided the two houses and found quite a lot of useful items and were now stocked up. As agreed they would visit Stacey's house and Eric's house twice a day to see if anyone was looking for them.

Danielle, Eric, and Stacey were crouched in the trees on the hill behind the houses, the girls each carried a bow and quiver taken from one of the houses and Eric had a black Ka-Bar knife strapped to his thigh. They had seen looters and house-fires and did not wish to be found by anyone. From what they had seen people were going crazy, breaking into house, fighting, and even taking people away. They could only guess why people were being taken away and who was doing it.

As they watched to see any signs of anyone approaching they saw something. In the haze of the magic hour Eric could make out three men pulling what looked like small cart, he did not recognize any of the men but thought he caught a glimpse of something moving in the cart.

"Looters," he whispered as the cart came to a stop in his driveway. "Can you see what is in the cart?"

"We have enough supplies," Danielle watched as the two of the men approached his house and kicked open the door. "Look at them, the smallest one is bigger than you and it looks like they have weapons."

"I thought I saw something moving in that cart," he crept forward. "I'm going to get a closer look, if I get into trouble get back to the cave."

He saw Stacey glare at him but she said nothing. She hated being told what to do, especially by him, but she knew he was not in charge, no one was really they looked after each other.

Slinking down the hill, keeping to the trees and cover he paused at the edge of his driveway. The lot was graveled and had no cover, all the man standing by the cart had to do was turn and he would be caught. Slowly he took a tentative step onto the gravel, the man on the cart didn't look back at him. Eric began to slowly make his way to the cart focused intently on the man in the cart. The two men inside the house were making enough noise to cover his footsteps but he did not want to chance it. As he reached the cart he peaked in and took a quick inventory of what was inside. He almost wrote off the entire load until his eyes locked on a pair of green eyes staring back at him. What he had thought was just a pile of clothes was actually a person, a young woman who was bound and gagged. The man next to her was not so lucky, the side of his face was covered in blood and Eric could not tell if he was breathing.

Anger flared inside him, these thugs weren't just looters. His hand dropped to the handle of the knife strapped to his thigh as his eyes bore a hole into the back of the man standing by the cart. Looking back at the girl her eyes moved to something in the cart, he followed her gaze and saw the handle of a sword. He slowly grasped the handle and pulled it carefully out of the cart. He ducked down and drew the sword from its sheath as silently as he could. It was a straight sword with one sharp side, it looked like something he had seen in a ninja movie.

As he stood he grasped the handle tightly with both hands and looked at the man by the cart. The man was hunched over trying to light a cigarette with a match, Eric crept along the side of the cart. As the man straightened Eric pressed the blade of the sword to his neck.

"If you make a sound, I will slit your throat." Eric growled in a voice that even surprised him. "Understand?"

The man nodded.

"Who are the people in your cart?"

The man shrugged.

"Kneel."

The man obeyed slow dropping to his knees. As the man sank to the ground Eric pulled the blade from his neck and slammed the button of the grip into the top of his head. The man dropped to the ground, the cigarette still in his mouth. He turned to his house and saw one of the men exit the back door and then turn back around to pull something out. Eric saw part of his couch edge out of the door as the looter continued his efforts.

Eric shifted his arms to hold the sword at his hip and sprinted towards the man. He was practically on top of the man before he was noticed. As he came within striking distance Eric leapt off the ground and raised the sword above his head. He brought the sword down as he landed catching the looter in mid-turn. Eric could feel the resistance as the blade sliced through the looters neck and connected with his collar bone, much to his surprise as well Eric's the blade did not stop until it was in the middle of his chest.

Their eyes met as Eric raised his leg to rest on the looters thigh. With a hard kick Eric cleared the blade and watched the looter fall. He turned and walked back to the cart, stepping around the man he had knocked out. He wasn't sure if the blow to the head was enough to put him down for long. As he reached the cart he turned toward the hill and waved the girls down.

Stacey was the first to approach, her bow held ready and her eyes wary. Danielle followed her feet dragging on the ground and her eyes were blank.

"What happened?" She whispered.

"They have people tied up in their cart," Eric pointed to the young woman bound and gagged. "You untie her, I'll check if he is still alive."

"You killed him," Danielle looked at Eric. "You killed him."

"He was a bad man who would have killed me and done worse to you two." He reached over the side of the truck and felt for a pulse on the hostage's neck. "I don't feel anything, I think he is dead."

Stacey had untied the hands of the female hostage who pushed herself over to the man and began checking for a pulse as well. After a few tries she began to cry, even with her gag in place it was pretty loud. The man inside the house was making a lot of noise and it sounded like he was getting closer to seeing them.

"We have to leave," Danielle was staring at the house.

"If we leave now, more will come back to investigate." Stacey snapped, "We have to fight, it was going to happen sooner or later and right now I like the odds. There are three of us and one of them."

"What about him?" Danielle pointed to the man on the ground.

"I'm not going to kill someone while their defenseless," Eric took the rope from the bed of the truck and began to hogtie the looter. "Keep an eye out for the other one. We can blindfold him and leave him here."

The three set about a task, Eric tying up the looter, Stacey watching the house, and Danielle helping the hostage.

"Here he comes," Stacey hissed over her shoulder.

As Eric looked up he was a man staring back at him from the kitchen window. Already he could tell list last man was huge, a giant compared to him. The man roared in rage and rushed to the back door. Seeing the body of the other looter he yelled again and kicked the couch out of the way, clearing the doorway and pushing it off the small porch and into the backyard. He held a sledgehammer in his hand above his head and charged with his gaze focused solely on Eric.

Grabbing the sword beside him Eric charged toward the man. As the gap between them closed an arrow whipped by his ear and sank into the giant's shoulder. The giant faltered slightly, Eric swung the sword as he veered slightly to the right. He felt the sword connect for a moment and knew it would not be enough to take the giant down. He turned after passing the giant and brought the sword level, pushing off from his planted foot he stabbed at the giant's back. The giant turned as the blade passed through his back and poked out his stomach. His eyes were wide in shock and Eric could see why, an arrow was halfway through his throat. The giant pulled the arrow from his neck and looked from it to Eric, almost as though he was trying to question where it came from and then fell to his knees and then to the ground below.

He looked up to see Danielle holding her bow with tears streaming down her face. Eric drew the sword from the giant's body and wiped it off on the giant's shirt. He walked to Danielle and put her hands down.

"I killed him." She squeaked.

"It's ok," Eric held her for a moment. "It isn't your fault, you were protecting me."

"We need to get going, we don't know if there are more." Stacey appeared next to them.

"Grab what we need and let's go."


	5. Chapter 5

Thursday, March 19th 1998 Night

2 days after Change

They reached the cave and led the young woman in, she had not said a word since they had rescued her neither had Danielle. Once inside they set about getting things secure for the night. The last person in setup the barricade to the tunnel and the door and a couple of candles were lit to provide light. Danielle and the young woman sat down on the bed both with a distant look in their eyes.

"Now what?" Stacey looked at the two of them and at Eric.

"We have to snap them out of it. She doesn't have to stay if she doesn't want." Eric set the sword he carried by the table as well as the machete they had found in the cart.

"Do you think they'll be ok?"

"I think they're in shock or something like that." He drew the sword and made sure it was clean before sheathing it again. "Did you see how she looked when see saw me kill that guy? That was bad enough but I don't think she meant to shoot him in the neck."

"He was going to kill you," Stacey placed her bow and the one Danielle had carried by the swords. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," he stared at his feet. "I keep telling myself that I should feel something but I don't. Is that normal?"

"I don't know." She looked at the two sitting on the bed. "We should talk to them, you know, get them back in the real world."

She crouched down in front of Danielle and took her hands. After a moment Danielle looked at her face and let out a small sniffle.

"I killed someone," she sobbed.

"Danielle, why did you shoot that arrow?" Stacey spoke in a slow soothing voice.

"The man was going to hurt Eric."

"Was the man going to hurt Eric or was the man going to kill Eric?"

"He was going to kill him."

"Danielle, did you kill a man tonight or did you save Eric's life tonight?"

Danielle looked at her with tear brimmed eyes and then looked at Eric. "I saved Eric's life."

"Do you think that the man who was going to kill Eric would have just left you or me alone?"

She shook her head.

"You were protecting yourself and those you care about."

Eric mimicked Stacey's stance and took one of her hands. "Thank you for saving me."

Danielle hugged both of them then lay on the bed. "I'm going to take a little nap, would you make dinner please?"

"We'll take care of it." Stacey patted her on the head and then looked at the young woman.

Once again they both crouched to look the young woman in the eyes but they did not take her hands.

"My name is Stacey and this is Eric," she smiled weakly. "What is your name?"

The woman shook her head.

"The man who was in the cart with you, who was he?"

She shook her head again.

"We aren't going to hurt you and you don't have to stay here, but it would not be safe for you to go out now."

She nodded.

"Can you talk?"

She nodded

"Are you deaf?"

She shook her head.

"Alright, we are going to make some dinner, do you want some?"

She shook her head.

"We all sleep in this bed, each person has a sleeping bag if you want you can go to use one of our extras."

She nodded and slid into the sleeping bag next against the cave wall. They watched as Danielle and the young woman drifted off to sleep and then went about making dinner. The day before they had setup a cooking pit and they still had plenty of canned goods.

"Where did you learn all this stuff?" Stacey asked.

"I read a lot."

"You read books about camping and sword fighting?"

He nodded. "Yeah, but tonight was the first time I ever was actually in a sword fight."

"Who would read that kind of stuff? I mean, I'm glad I'm alive and that we aren't starving or slaves but you have to admit that is weird."

He stirred the stew in the pot a couple of times before answering. "I saw a movie when I was little, something about King Arthur and I thought that it was the coolest thing in the world. I read everything I could about all that stuff and found out that most the knights I dreamed of being were just bullies in armor but then I found out about the samurai. They were everything that made me want to be a knight but true. They were loyal, they were strong, and they were good. I wanted to study martial arts and I did for a couple of months but they weren't teaching the things I wanted to know."

"You are weird."

"I know," he smiled.

They sat there for a while just letting the food cook. Stacey kept glancing at the bookshelf and shaking her head.

"This is what I think," Eric finally broke the silence. "We leave the rest of that stuff down there and let someone find it. If they are with those guys then they'll think they were ambushed and that is that. They might search the area but we know that they aren't going to find anything, especially if we are careful for a while. If someone else finds them, then they'll decide what to do with them and probably take the cart and the stuff inside it."

"How long should we wait though? I mean it isn't like someone can just hop in a car and find them."

"We should probably wait a week just to be sure." He poured out two bowls of stew and handed one to Stacey. "After that we'll go into town and see what we can find out. It is only about an hours walk into town, maybe two if we take it slow. We can go there and be back in the same day."

"We'll all talk about it in the morning, alright?" Stacey took the bowl and sat down.

Eric walked over to the bed and patted Danielle softly on the shoulder. "Dinner is ready."


	6. Chapter 6

**From:**MCCOSKEY, SCOTT

**Sent:**Friday, December 08, 2006 1:08 PM

**To:**MCCOSKEY, SCOTT; 6

Tuesday, March 24th 1998 Sunrise

Aztec, New Mexico

7 days after Change

Katherine looked at the stretch of road ahead and gripped her bow tightly. She stood on the roof of the high school cafeteria waiting for some sort of sign. This was the first night she had drawn watch, she was not alone but in the near dark she felt alone. This week was spring break and her senior year. She wasn't supposed to be here, she was supposed to go to Florida. Now she was alive, standing watch, with a bow and arrow on top of a roof. She did not pose the most fearsome visage being built like a sprinter and just a hair less than five foot seven.

Seven days ago she stayed late to watch the football team play a game on the practice field. All the jocks were there from cheerleaders to baseball players to her soccer team. Then the lights went out. Looking back the slight panic that settled was almost comical, now it wasn't. Those that lived nearby went home and came back with their families and had setup a place to stay in the school, being that it was a good meeting place with plenty of room. The first attack wasn't expected, no one was thinking and a lot of people died. After that they broke into the gym and found the maintenance supplies, the next attack still some died but not as much. Now they were armed with baseball bats, bows, and shovels. A few of the adults were in the welding and carpentry rooms trying to make better weapons and armor. The cars were lined up around the area as the making of a wall. Then the surviving townspeople started streaming in with stories just like theirs and the remaining police force as an escort. Weapons were made, patrols and watches were setup, and the grounds were fortified as best as they could. People brought what they had and the houses in the area were stripped of anything of use. Each class room was now a family residence and it was a blessing that the water still worked, it had something to do with flow plumbing or sounded like that, she didn't care.

The night had been quiet and she wasn't sure that was a good thing. They were out there somewhere. She tried not to think about the attacks but the three people she killed were fresh in her mind. It was like all the scum in the area had banded together and decided they wanted whatever was here. What really shocked her were not that they were attacked but by the size of the force. She expected some of the local gangs to come by and maybe some of the bad apples in the town but not all at once like some sort of army. It seemed that in the face of starvation and the collapse of the world as they knew it was reason enough for them to band together. It was by sheer luck that they had survived the first attack.

She knew she was lucky to be alive and to be here. There were stories of those not so lucky, the ones on the outskirts of town and those traveling. People who lived outside the town and who went to check on their families rarely came back with them if at all. It had only been a week and the world had changed so much.

Shaking the thoughts from her head she scanned the area again, knowing that such escapes into her mind could cost people their lives. The area was clear and there was no sign of anyone or anything approaching. When she thought about it the situation made sense. The grounds were fortified and plenty of able bodied people were inside, even if there was attack it would be too costly now to attack. They would come back eventually, she wasn't going to lie to herself, but when they did it would be a fight with heavy losses on both sides.

Heat began to seep into her bones as the sun crested the hills. Behind her she could hear one of the other sentries sigh.

"Should be here any time now," a voice she recognized as Kenneth Alter said from behind her.

Kenneth was the father of Pam, one of the freshmen cheerleaders, and he was a police officer. He was built like a bear and was working on a beard to match. The bow he held and the bow she was using were his, one of his hobbies being bow hunting. He had been at the school since the first day and she had seen him in the attacks, both times he was carrying a fire axe and left a trail of dead in his path. Looking at him now she would have never guessed he was capable of such things, but then she never would have thought she could kill three people either.

"What do you think is for breakfast?" He asked seeing her turn around.

Those who patrolled and stood watch were among the first to be fed. They had setup a meeting hall and eating area in the cafeteria which wasn't hard considering that was what it was usually used for. Most of the kitchen no longer worked but the freezers were still being used, large stacks of ice helped cool things and made fresh water when they melted. All in all it wasn't a bad setup it just took some getting used to.

"I can't believe all the food that was wasted." He turned back to his post. "That first day people just tore about the grocery store."

"I know," Kat turned back to her post. "I was one of them."

"Is that how you got your shiner?"

She was glad he couldn't see her blush. "Yes, but not how you think. I slipped on some spilled ice and knocked my head."

"Finally," he heard him say. "What took you so long?"

Kat turned to see the five person team who would replace them. They traded theirs bows for hand weapons and headed down the ladder leading into the eating hall. The smell of bacon and eggs roused a hunger in her that the cold had killed. There was already a line for food and it was a strict ration per person but that did not stop the smell. As she stood in line she could see the changes in the kitchen where the old appliances had been taken out and replaced by older models or new versions of older models. Gas still burned but just never got hot enough. A group of quick thinkers picked the Pioneer Village clean of anything useful. Most of the stuff was still in the welding and carpentry rooms being copied and thought out.

She took the breakfast tray handed to her and sat down. The place wasn't too full but about an hour it would be. Today was going to be a full day for her, after she went back to the room she shared with four other girls she was going to help built a wall that would encompass the entire campus and the parking lots for a while, she would then work on her self defense skills that the police were teaching everyone, and finally she was going to find somewhere to else to sleep. She was already tired of listening to the three girls she lived with whine about how things had changed. It wasn't that she liked how things were now it was just that she would rather be doing something to make things better than bitching about it. Maybe it was the fact that none of the girls had actually fought during the attacks but when she looked at them she just saw three little girls bickering about life and she knew that if things were still normal they would be doing the exact same thing.

Kat finished her meal in silence and returned the tray to the kitchen. She smiled when she saw two of her roommates washing the trays. She walked back to her room and settled down into her bedroll and fell asleep, still smiling.


End file.
